1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer security.
2. Description of the Background Art
Mobile computing devices, such as notebook computers (also referred to as “laptops”) and tablet computers (e.g., Apple® iPad tablets), are employed on the go in various locations. While most mobile computing devices have short range wireless computer network connectivity, not all of them can perform data communication over a long range telecommunications network, such as a mobile phone network. As a particular example, notebook computers typically come with a WiFi adapter but very few have 3G capability. These notebook computers would thus have to connect to a WiFi hotspot in order to connect to the Internet. Once on the Internet, the notebook computers are exposed to all sorts of computer security threats, including malware (e.g., computer viruses, worms, spyware, Trojans, bots) and fraudulent schemes (e.g., phishing). A popular way of protecting computers against security threats is to employ an anti-malware. However, deployment of anti-malware is not trivial because an anti-malware is typically not free, has to be updated, and needs to be installed and running in the protected computer. To make matters worse, some mobile computing devices are not compatible with popular anti-malware or do not have the requisite computing power to run an anti-malware.